Ministers questioned in bank scandal
Ministers questioned in bank scandal
JAKARTA (JP): With the approval of President B.J. Habibie, the
police questioned three Cabinet members as witnesses in the Bank
Bali scandal, Minister/State Secretary Muladi said on Friday.
Muladi identified those questioned as Minister of Finance
Bambang Subianto, State Minister of the Empowerment of State
Enterprises Tanri Abeng and Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril
Sabirin.
"Some ministers were summoned by the police after the
President gave his approval," Muladi said after attending a
meeting between Habibie, five other ministers, Attorney General
Ismudjoko and National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi.
Muladi said the President called the Thursday meeting as part
of his preparations for his Oct. 14 accountability speech to the
People's Consultative Assembly.
During the meeting, the President spent much of his time
quizzing Ismudjoko and Roesmanhadi about the latest developments
in several high-profile cases, including the Bank Bali scandal
and the investigation into the alleged corruption by his
predecessor Soeharto, according to Muladi.
"I think the Bank Bali case is in the pipeline; the
enforcement of the law has been clear. About Pak Harto, we are
just waiting the announcement from the attorney general," Muladi
said after the meeting at Merdeka Palace.
Muladi urged people not to amplify the bank scandal and the
investigation of Soeharto, while ignoring the extraordinary
achievements of Habibie and his Cabinet.
He said Habibie was making serious efforts to resolve the bank
scandal, which allegedly involves several Cabinet members, a
number of close associates and his brother.
"The (success stories) must be emphasized; you should not
merely focus on Bank Bali," Muladi said, appearing somewhat
irritated by questions about the scandal.
The minister intimated that the government would not bow to
pressure from the International Monetary Fund to fully disclose
the results of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) audit of the
transactions relating to the scandal, on the grounds that such a
disclosure would violate the country's banking secrecy law.
He did acknowledge the audit tracked the flows of funds in the
scandal to several influential figures and a certain
organization.
However, he quickly added, somewhat confusingly: "I myself, as
well as the President, have not read the report."
The IMF has stopped the disbursement of aid to Indonesia until
the government satisfactorily resolves the bank scandal.
Habibie has gone back on his promise to the IMF to disclose
the complete PwC audit report, which reportedly contains the flow
of funds to the personal bank accounts of influential people
close to the President.
Muladi, however, indicated the government would likely offer
some concessions to the IMF. "We are still considering how much
(can be disclosed); whether it will be (disclosed) selectively,"
the minister said.
Roesmanhadi and National Police chief of detectives Maj. Gen.
Da'i Bachtiar told the President the police had given the
Attorney General's Office the dossiers of five suspects in the
Bank Bali scandal, including Rudy Ramli, the former owner of the
bank, and businessman Djoko S. Tjandra.
"We explained (to Habibie) the Bank Bali scandal had been
processed and the dossiers had been handed over to the Attorney
General's Office," Roesmanhadi said.
Also attending the meeting were Coordinating Minister for
Development Supervision Hartarto and State Minister of National
Development Planning Boediono.
Muladi, also a professor of law, said the government had
achieved impressive progress in the investigation of Soeharto and
his children, including the revocation of several presidential
decrees which had benefited the former first family.
"The final step will depend in large part on the Criminal
Code," he said without elaboration. (prb)